The Birth of a Book

I talked with my editor about doing another Ava/Mercy-centric book for a few years, but loosely. It was very much a "what if" to start with, and I refused to make any concrete plans until the characters showed me the way. Character first, after all. But I did say if a lot, and I knew that if it happened, I was going to call it Lord Have Mercy. How could I have called it anything else? But the book didn't come together until 2020; that was when I knew what I was going to do with it. 

The problem? The last Dartmoor-related release had been Prodigal Son, and there was a whole hell of a lot that needed to happen in Lean Dog Land before we could step foot in Alex's classroom; before we traversed the swamps with him, and found Mercy's legacy waiting in the muck and silt at the bottom. 

So I picked back up where I'd left off, and wrote Lone Star. And then Homecoming, then The Wild Charge. Then Long Way Down, and Nothing More, and then, finally, it was time for Lord Have Mercy. 

I'm not the most patient person, and it was oh so tempting to mention book ten over the past three years. I'm honestly a little proud of myself that I didn't, and that I actually stuck with the plan and got books 7, 8, and 9 finished and published. I couldn't have written Lord Have Mercy without them - not only because this series is linear and co-dependent, but because Lord Have Mercy is going to be far, far richer in scope and characterization thanks to the events of those books. The romances and relationships that played out in them. Reese and Tenny have a big part to play in LHM, and I'm even more excited for it after having written their book. 

There are days that I wish I'd styled this series as a chain of loosely-connected standalones. I think it would have been more commercially successful that way. But writing this book now, watching the way every little thing that's happened along the way has built to this moment, this story, this family working together, it's hard to imagine having done it any other way. 

It's so exciting that we're finally here! I hope you're enjoying Part I, and all I can say for the next three parts is "buckle up," because it's going to get insane. Thank you so much to those of you who've left a review! Reviews help boost a book's sales rank, and therefore its visibility, which helps it be seen by more readers. The more visible a book, the more successful it can be, and that helps me make sales so I can afford to spend more time writing than marketing. So, thank you! I want to produce as much content as possible, and every Like, Share, and review helps me do that. 

I'm writing Part II: Fortunate Son now, and plan to put together my big debriefing post this weekend or early next week. If you have any burning questions, drop them below and I'll answer them in that post.